


Marked

by Sergeant_Sporks



Series: Small Stories from the Big Apple [1]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Tales of Arcadia: Wizards
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Nari wants to be friends, New York City, bit of angst, bunch of fluff, just hanging out, parental Archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sergeant_Sporks/pseuds/Sergeant_Sporks
Summary: Nari notices a strange mark on Douxie's arm.Douxie is a master of evasive maneuvers.Archie, less so.
Series: Small Stories from the Big Apple [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050809
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	Marked

“He’s late. _Very_ late. _Five hours_ too late. I should go look for him.”

Nari nodded in agreement to Archie. It wasn’t like Douxie to be this late—he took renewing the protection spells around the apartment _way_ too seriously to be five hours late. What if something had happened to him? “I will come with you.”

“No, Nari. We don’t want the arcane order to find you—you should stay here.”

“The arcane order might be holding him!”

“In which case, you can’t get involved,” Archie told her firmly, “Douxie would _never_ forgive himself if they caught you because of him—not to mention the world as we know it would be ripped apart.”

“I know all of that, Archie, but what if it isn’t the arcane order? What if he got hit by one of those horrible cars, or mugged in a dark alleyway somewhere? He could be hurt!”

“I will come back and get you if that is the case,” Archie promised, “Just stay here while I—”

The door handle started to turn, and Nari jumped behind the mattress, ready to defend herself. Archie jumped up on the mattress in front of her, back arched.

The door opened, and Douxie trudged through, looking dead tired. He threw his hoodie onto the floor, leaning against the kitchen sink. “Hey, you lot,” he yawned, “Still up?”

Archie leapt towards him. “We were worried sick! Where have you been?!”

“I… was working a double shift. Someone called in last minute, and they needed an extra hand. I sent a text…”

Nari sheepishly held up the phone he’d gotten for her. The screen was black. “I’m sorry, Douxie, but I think I broke it. It won’t turn on.”

Douxie sighed, and held his hand out. Nari gave the phone to him, and he held down the circle button. It vibrated and the screen lit up, displaying, in fact, one text message from Douxie stating that he would be working a double shift.

Nari’s eyes widened as she took it back from him. “You fixed it! How did you do that?”

“You powered it off, Nari.”

“I turn it off all of the time, and it doesn’t stay black like that!”

“No, no, no, not just turning it off, you powered it off. It’s to preserve your battery l—never mind. Have you two eaten?”

Nari shook her head.

“Right. I’ll make some dinner.”

Archie leapt up onto the counter. “You need to get off your feet—you shouldn’t be taking double shifts when you’re already working two jobs.”

Douxie gave him a thumbs up with a tired grin. “Hey, overtime pays extra. Get off of the counter, Arch, you’ll get fur on it.”

“Sit down,” Archie ordered, “We can put something in the microwave.”

Douxie made a face at him and opened the refrigerator. “Mmmm, who feels like omelets? I feel like omelets. What time is it? Almost past midnight, right? Great, that means it’s the morning, and time for breakfast food.”

“Douxie!” Archie groaned.

“You have been working hard,” Nari agreed, “You should sleep before your shift at the McDonalds.”

Douxie got the eggs, cheese, and milk out of the refrigerator. “Don’t remind me of the morning shift at McDonalds. Ugh, working there makes being Merlin’s apprentice look like a walk in the park.” He searched through the cabinets for a bowl and frying pan.

“Bottom left cabinet,” Nari reminded him.

He gave her a thumbs up, finding what he needed. “Thanks.”

“Point being, you need rest,” Archie reprimanded him, “Go to sleep.”

Douxie whisked eggs and milk, adding salt and pepper. “For, what, half an hour before I have to get up for McDonalds? I’ll be fine, Archie.”

“You’re overworking yourself.”

Eggs in the pan. Hm, that _did_ smell good. Better than microwaving leftovers. “One double shift, Archie. That’s it, I promise. Next time someone asks me to stay overtime, I’ll say no and come back, okay?”

“You’re going to collapse.”

“Aw, c’mon, Archie, remember that time in Salem we were up for several nights avoiding that mob with torches? This is nothing.”

“I did not like that time in Salem.”

Douxie added cheese slices to the eggs in the pan, folding over the omelet on the top. “This is much better. Heating and everything, no staying out in the snow. Oh, and no angry mobs, that part is nice.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”

Nari tilted her head. Douxie was always wearing that hoodie—she’d never seen him without it. There was a reddish-pinkish mark on his upper arm that his tank top didn’t cover—a capitalized ‘m.’ Nari reached up and touched it lightly. “What’s this?”

Douxie froze for a second, but just a second. “Oh, that? It’s a tattoo I got, hm, I don’t know, in my first century? Embarrassing phase, still getting out of the man bun hairstyle. Anyway, M for magic, you know? And if I raise my arm up, it’s upside-down, so it’s a ‘W’ for wizard. Stupid mistake, really, I still don’t know what possessed me to get it.”

That was a lie. Nari didn’t always know what humans were feeling, but she could sense pain, and it was coming off of Douxie in waves, despite his grin. Archie, too, but he was also feeling… guilty?

“Oh,” was all she said, and Douxie went back to cooking the omelets.

 _What happened to you_?

Xxx

Douxie’s alarm went off, and kept going. Nari got up, stretching. Yes, it had been maybe half an hour since Douxie had gotten back from his extra hours? The dishes from the omelets were still in the sink—Douxie had dropped off to sleep right after eating. She could do those, though. It was the least she could do to make his day easier.

Douxie was still snoring away, and she gently shook him. “Douxie?” she whispered, “Douxie, your alarm.”

“Five more minutes, Merlin,” he mumbled.

That hurt a lot more than Nari thought it would. Poor Douxie. She shook him again. “I’m sorry, Douxie, but you have to wake up.”

He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Morning, Nari,” he yawned, “You want breakfast?”

“We just ate,” she reminded him.

Douxie turned on his phone, hissing at the sudden light and peering at the time. “Oh. So we did.” He got up, grabbing a bag with his McDonalds uniform in it. “You go back to sleep, Nari. I’ll renew the defense spells before I go.”

Nari sent a little bit of magical energy his way. Hopefully it would help him keep going. Douxie shut and locked the door behind him, and Nari padded over to the sink, turning on the water and glancing back to make sure she hadn’t woken up Archie. The cat was still soundly asleep. She brought a chair over, filled the sink and washed the omelet dishes, putting all of them away neatly. There. She checked the fridge and pantry. Looked like they were all stocked. She picked the chair up and brought it back to its place. If only there was something else she could do, some way she could help, and Douxie wouldn’t look so tired all of the time—she hadn’t seen him play his instruments in a while, he normally got back home, made dinner, and then fell asleep until he had to wake up for his morning shift. And he didn’t smile, either, except for tiny, tired ones. Archie was right. He was overworking himself—he didn’t get any time for himself, he was always working. But she couldn’t get a job to help—she didn’t have a ‘social security card’ or ‘proof of identification.’ Not to mention she wasn’t human.

“Nari? What are you doing up?”

Oh—she’d woken up Archie. “Just cleaning up,” she whispered, “go back to sleep.”

Archie stretched, padding towards her. “I’m a cat, Nari, we’re nocturnal.” He jumped up onto the counter next to her. “Is something bothering you?”

Nari rubbed her arms. “Just… Douxie works really hard for us. But… I don’t feel like I know him that well.”

“Ah. Don’t worry about that, he’s not exactly great at making friends. People like him, sure, but he doesn’t… well, he’s quasi-immortal, it’s not easy.”

“I’m immortal, too. He wouldn’t have to worry about me going anywhere.”

“Old habits die hard.”

Nari let the water out of the sink, watching it swirl down the drain. “Archie?”

“Yes, Nari?”

“That mark on his arm is not a tattoo, is it.”

“No. No, it’s not,” Archie said quietly.

There was that guilty feeling again. “Where did it come from, Archie?”

The cat fiddled with his glasses. “I really shouldn’t—if Douxie didn’t want to tell you, then I shouldn’t…”

“I won’t tell him. Promise. I just want to know.” Archie didn’t say anything, and she looked the familiar in the eyes. “Archie, I would never want to hurt Douxie. I want to be his friend, and help him.”

“I know that,” Archie said softly, then sighed. “I’ve been Douxie’s familiar for a very long time—or as my father would say, he’s been my wizard familiar for a very long time.”

Nari giggled. Of course a familiar would see it the other way around—that made sense.

“Ever since he was a kitten—sorry, a child. He never knew his parents, but I was… drawn to him, I suppose you could say. We looked out for each other. Kept each other safe, worked together to get food and find places to stay.”

“Like now?”

Archie’s claws went in and out of his paws. “No, not like now. Now I just feel like he’s taking care of me all of the time—working double shifts to keep us in a home, with food. And I can’t do _anything_ to help. It isn’t supposed to be like this, Nari. I’m supposed to take care of _him_. He used to not be able to fend for himself, or he was taking risks that were too big, and I was always there to defend him when he got into trouble, but…” Archie sighed.

“He grew up,” Nari said softly.

“I suppose he did.” Archie pushed his glasses up his snout. “I’m sorry, Nari, this isn’t what you asked. I don’t want to push all of this on you.”

Nari gave the cat a tiny smile. “Douxie is not the _only_ one I want to be friends with.”

Archie’s ears perked up. “Thank you. I… it’s just hard. Thinking… well. Anyway. One day… Douxie got caught doing magic.”

“By Galahad, right? I’ve heard this story before.”

“No. Not by Galahad. Nari… Merlin never heard this story. None of the knights ever heard it, either. It happened before Merlin took him on as his apprentice. When he was still a kid. We were in a village—this was before Guinevere died, mind you. Magic wasn’t illegal, but it wasn’t always popular, either. And this particular village had a Gum Gum problem.” Archie took in a deep breath. “He got caught by some of the villagers doing magic to get some food, and…” another deep breath. “And they branded him with an M to mark him as a wizard,” he pushed out.

Nari felt sick to her stomach, and not just from the pain and guilt coming off of Archie. “They did that to a _child_?!”

Archie’s tail lashed angrily. “And I couldn’t—I wasn’t—I didn’t protect him, Nari, he was just a child, and I couldn’t do anything to help! I—I couldn’t do anything but watch. I was supposed to have his _back_ , but I… all I could do was comfort him afterwards!”

Nari scooped the cat up, stroking his head. A glimmer of a memory not her own came to her in confusing flashes—a boy crying, big hands holding her away, a red-hot brand, a scream, a boy crying. Her head swam, and she sat down with a _whump_ on the ground, still clutching Archie. Tears trickled down her cheeks as the memories kept flashing over and over again, _especially_ the red-hot brand.

“Poor Douxie,” she whispered, finally letting Archie go. The memory flashes stopped. “Archie… it was not your fault.”

Archie paced back and forth. “I _know_ that, but I just…” He shook himself. “Anyway. That’s what happened. And now Douxie wears long sleeves even if it’s 90 degrees in the California sun.”

Nari sprang back up to her feet. “I want to learn to cook,” she announced.

“Hm?”

“I want to learn to cook,” she repeated, “Douxie does everything for us—if I can learn to cook, then that’s one less thing he has to worry about. And maybe, if he comes home and there’s food ready, he won’t be so tired. And he won’t be on his feet all the time.”

“Humans are not built to stand all day,” Archie agreed.

Nari pressed the circle button on her phone, opening it. “Archie, which one is the in-ter-net again?”

“You can’t access it without wifi, and we don’t have much data—I’ll be right back.” Archie leapt up to the window and wriggled out, jumping to the neighbor’s windowsill, squeezing through their window. A few moments later, he was back.

“Their wifi password was written on a piece of paper near the router, let me see the phone.”

With a lot of missed attempts from Archie’s paws, he finally managed to get the phone connected and pressed on the little box with the G in it. “There we are, all yours.”

Nari tapped at the tiny letters. “Archie, what does Douxie like besides omelets?”

Xxx

Douxie fiddled with the apartment lock—stuck again. He jiggled the key harder, hoping it wouldn’t snap off in the lock. His feet _hurt_ , and he’d almost fallen asleep at work. Right. After he made dinner and renewed the protection spells, he was going to pass out on his mattress and possibly melt into it and never get up. Maybe being chased by a mob with torches actually _was_ preferrable to a double shift. He sniffed. Something smelled good—maybe one of the neighbors was cooking? His stomach growled. Right, he needed to get in. He gave up, pulled the key out of the jammed lock and knocked on the door.

The lock clicked, and Nari opened the door. “Douxie! I made dinner!”

Douxie headed towards the kitchen. “Great, what do you want for—” what she’d actually said caught up with his tired brain, and he blinked, hard. “Did you say you made dinner?”

She beamed, pointing to the stove. A pie was sitting on top of it, and Douxie realized it was the origin of the smell. “You… you made that?”

“Archie and the internet helped,” she replied.

“You used the internet? How’d you do that?” He’d thought he’d locked the internet from data use…

Nari gave him another huge smile. “We stole the neighbor’s wi-fi!” she told him cheerfully.

Douxie grinned, holding up his hand for a high five that she misunderstood as an opening for a hug. “Up top! You’re getting the hang of the modern world!”

Xxx

“He can never know that was our third try,” Archie whispered to Nari, “Whoever invented the phrase ‘easy as pie’ clearly never made one.”

Nari stifled a laugh. “Shh, he’s sleeping.”

Douxie had devoured his part of the pot pie, complimented she and Archie’s cooking skills, renewed the protection spells, then immediately gone to bed. Now he was snoring away. Nari peered out the window. No sign of the arcane order—she was starting to wonder if Douxie would be able to fight them if they _did_ show up, as tired as he seemed all of the time. Well, if not, she and Archie would protect him. Somehow. She didn’t know what she could do to stop them, but she did know that she wasn’t going to let Bellroc and Skrael hurt him.

Nari turned off the light, moving silently towards her own mattress. She glanced at Douxie. He was still dead tired, sure. She hadn’t managed to change that, and she couldn’t get rid of the mark on his arm.

But he’d fallen asleep with a smile.


End file.
